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More at OHEA.org Governor DeWine wants to kill Ohio's death penalty.

And I'm Jo Ingles.

If you're 17 in Ohio you can get married.

But there's an effort underway to change that.

I'll tell you more about it this week in the state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

Governor Mike DeWine is asking state lawmakers to end something he helped put into law more than 40 years ago.

Ohio's death penalty.

And he said the issue should go before voters if lawmakers decide not to act.

Since taking office in 2019, there have been no executions in Ohio, which was for several years in the early 2000, second only to Texas and the number of executions carried out each year.

DeWine has delayed each scheduled execution date since becoming governor, some more than once.

DeWine announcement that he wants to abolish the death penalty has been anticipated for months, and he said it was decades in the making.

When I voted for the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1981, I believed that in some cases, capital punishment could serve as a deterrent to keep some people from killing.

Do I note it?

Of the 331 people who have been sentenced to death, 41 died of either natural causes or by suicide.

89 were taken off death row by a court or courts.

Only 56 have been executed.

So he said that means if a murderer is caught, indicted, convicted and sentenced to death.

The odds are still pretty good they're not going to be executed.

I no longer believe the death pe The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.

For the state to take a human life.

There must my opinion.

There must be evidence that in doing so, it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder for the reason stayed above.

I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.

Nor do I believe that there's any chance in the future.

DeWine said any discussion of capital punishment has to include the families of the victims.

We know anecdotally that many of the victim's family members want to see the convicted killer executed.

We also know that some family members of victims do not want to see an execution.

Some of them have expressed their belief that the victim would not have wanted to have the execution take place.

Others have said they do not want the execution for religious reasons.

Each victim's family members react differently, but one feeling.

However, that seems to be universally held by victims families is that the long, long wait to see if the death penalty is carried out is frustrating and very hurtful for these victims families.

but DeWine can't change the death penalty law.

That's either up to state lawmakers or to voters.

But he said he has no plans to lead an effort to get it to the ballot and the Constitution.

Several legislators praised wine's decision, including Representatives Adam Matthews, Gene Schmidt and Ron Ferguson, as well as Senator Steve Huffman.

But other lawmakers have been public in their opposition to repealing the capital punishment statute.

Including Representatives Mike Davis and Gary Clark and House finance Chair Brian Stewart.

My Statehouse News Bureau colleague Sarah Donaldson talked with Stewart after DeWine announcement.

law.

The legislature has spoken the laws on the books.

We have capital punishment and juries are using it.

Prosecutors are using it, and people are being charged with it.

There's no logjam to break.

Other than the fact that we have a pretty small minority of the legislature that would like to abolish capital punishment, that's fine.

That's their right.

But they're nowhere near the majority, and they're not going to prevail on getting a bill passed to to overturn this apple cart.

So what we're left with is, are we going to be a state that actually follows the law?

Are we going to elect people who actually live up to the oath that they take when they take office, which is to faithfully execute the laws of the state of Ohio, not just faithfully execute the laws that I personally agree with, execute all the laws of the state of Ohio.

Are we going to follow the law or are we not going to follow the law?

That's really been the debate we've had for eight years.

You know, folks on my side who think that we should have this as an option for the worst of the worst murders in the state.

Frankly, there's not much for us to do.

You know that that debate has been resolved.

And until somebody comes and, you know, finds 51 plus members of the House who are going to abolish capital punishment, that's where it is going to stay.

And that's, in my view, where it should stay.

The new attorney general, who DeWine appointed to that position last month, says he respects DeWine, but he'll continue to uphold the law.

Andy Wilson said in an interview that he feels as a former prosecutor, the death penalty is an important tool for prosecutors to have, and that he's glad DeWine did not decide to commute the sentences of 107 people.

The state currently lists on death row, but DeWine still could do that before he and Wilson both leave office in January.

DeWine decisions to delay all executions since he took office is a contrast to his predecessors.

There were 15 executions in the eight year term of Republican Governor John Kasich, 17 in Governor Ted Strickland's four year term, and 24 under Republican Governor Bob Taft, who also served eight years.

Strickland and Taft have now come out against the death penalty lawmakers sent to governor Mike DeWine several big bills following the mini lame duck session last week, including the budget correction bill that distributed $1.5 billion in surplus tax revenue to an expanded sales tax holiday, the state's rainy day savings account, and around $475 in a property tax credit for around 710,000 older Ohioans and disabled Ohioans getting the homestead tax exemption.

They also approved a requirement that Mail-In voters provide photo ID and a crackdown on home health care providers suspected of Medicaid fraud.

But one controversial measure did not go through a proposal to raise the minimum age to be married in Ohio from 17 to 18 years.

It's been introduced a few times before, and there's no publicly stated opposition, but it still hasn't moved far.

My Statehouse news Bureau colleague Joe Ingles looked into that.

As they stood on the steps outside the state House, about two dozen women dressed in bridal gowns, some wearing chains and handcuffs, called for state lawmakers to pass a bill to make it illegal for anyone under 18 to be married in Ohio.

17 states.

We're not done.

Fast as we.

Three.

Four.

One.

Stephanie Lowry was one of the brides.

She was 14 years old when her father, the head of her household of Jehovah's Witnesses, passed away.

Within six months, her 19 year old sister got married and Lowry was sent to live with her.

Then, at 15 years old, Stephanie got pregnant.

So a month after my 16th birthday, I stood in Ohio courtroom four months pregnant, and got married to this 19 year old man.

I didn't know the dangers in it.

I'm not sure if my mother did either.

She thought it was the best option, but he turned abusive and I had no legal rights.

Lowry says under Ohio law, because she was married, her then husband had legal control over her, and she says the police didn't know what to do with her when she called for help to get away from her abusive husband.

So I went to the police station 16 with my nine month old son in the cop, got me a bag of skittles, treated me just like a child because that's what I was.

Victim assistance.

They didn't know what to do with me.

Luckily, the Batter Women's Shelter in Akron, Ohio took a chance on me.

Lowry says she was able to stay there until she turned 18 and could legally divorce her husband.

Fraidy Reese is the founder and director of Unchained at Last, a national group that fights against childhood marriage.

She says this is happening in immigrant communities as well, because girls under 18 are being offered for marriage to settle debts or provide citizenship to someone.

Right now, marriage and Ohio is illegal for anyone 17 and younger, and she's frustrated that lawmakers won't move the bill to raise that minimum age to 18.

But they're also being cowards.

No one is even coming forward to say, well, I'm the one holding it up.

And here's why we have not.

We have not heard about who's holding it up.

No one has told us why.

It's just oh, we haven't had time to vote on this yet.

We haven't voted on it yet.

Clearly, someone is holding it up.

Tell us who.

Tell us why.

Let that person come forward.

Republican Senator Bill blessing, a sponsor of the bill, says he's heard some reasons why some lawmakers silently oppose it.

Typical conservative argument that you know what?

There can be situations where this is okay.

Is this government overreach, you know, potential issues that this would increase abortion.

You know, there might be others that are slipping online.

Blessings said he's not willing to compromise on the age, and neither is Democratic Senator Bill de Mora, who's sponsoring the bill with blessing.

Other BS excuses don't hold water as far as I'm concerned.

This is something that we should end.

I mean, basically this is a license of the state to allow sex trafficking of minors by the cause of the cause of their getting married and under 18 year old boy have no rights to do anything about it.

But Senate President Republican Rob McCauley said he's not holding it up.

Yeah, I'm in favor of it.

I still think there's a possibility that we pass it.

So I mean, it's just like I said the last time, there's still plenty of time left in the legislative session, and there's a good chance that we're going to pass it.

After the protest at the state House, a Senate committee approved the bill, but it didn't get a vote on the Senate floor because lawmakers went on summer break.

It could be taken up again in the lame duck session after the election, Republican Speaker Matt Huffman said he believes the bill is worthy of debate.

But I think things have fundamentally changed or I would say evolved and gotten better about what kind of decisions good decisions 17 year olds can make.

I would suggest that marriage is the most important decision that any individual makes in their life, so I think there's merit to the discussion.

As for McCauley, when asked whether the subject of 17 year olds getting married requires discussion.

Personally, no, I don't.

Still, there's no word on when or if Ohio will join the 17 states that have banned marriage for people under 18 years old, including Pennsylvania and all the states along the northeast seaboard.

Joe Ingles, statehouse news bureau.

The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be big for Democrats who are favored to win control of the U.S.

House.

The U.S.

Senate is a tight race that right now leans toward Republicans.

But in Ohio, a state that's been dominated by Republicans for years and has been won by GOP candidates 82% of the time over the last 40 years, Republicans continue to have an advantage, but polling has suggested that are chipping away at that in some races.

This week, I was invited to lead a discussion on politics at the City Club of Cleveland with Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank and research firm out of New York.

Here's an excerpt of that forum.

Patton Institute is known to be a center right to conservative public policy think tank.

Do you think that your views have been skewed to the right because it sounds like it.

And for example, you haven't mentioned anything about the independent voters who, from what I have understood, are going leaving the Republican Party and going more towards the Democratic Party.

Yes.

My views are skewed to the right.

You are correct in that observation.

Does that come through in your surveys?

No, I think my surveys show things that I wish they didn't all the time.

I've talked about some of those things here tonight.

But look, why are independents gravitating toward the Democrats this election cycle?

Because they certainly are.

The Democrats are the odds on favorite to win both houses of Congress.

The president's approval ratings are not very good.

Some of that, I think you can chalk up to the fact that public opinion in this country does swing back and forth like a pendulum, but the mechanics of elections in this country are such that I don't think the outcome in November is a foregone conclusion.

And I'm not saying that because I'm a conservative.

I'm saying that because it was a foregone conclusion that the Democrats would lose when they were polling very poorly in 2022, two years following Joe Biden's election, when public opinion was swinging against him like a pendulum.

And then Democrats did okay, I believe they lost one of the houses of Congress, but they didn't sustain anywhere near the kind of losses that were projected.

So time will tell.

Obviously, things are very fluid.

The president's base may be very dissatisfied with this kind of conclusion to the conflict in Iran.

A lot of people's minds are on that.

On the other hand, the market continues to go in the direction that it is going as of today, and gas prices follow suit.

Maybe the Republicans will have some kind of recovery between now and November, but I yeah, I want to acknowledge in the question I am a conservative.

I also look at polling and data with that in mind and putting that to the side.

Let's take another question.

I guess I want to follow up with the first one, because this was supposed to be a form about Democrats and Republicans.

So far, I've only heard the Republican side put your just put your hat on as a pollster.

It seems like there are weaknesses within the Republican message within the Republican Party.

That's why the midterm election is up for grabs.

Can you possibly say to us what we've heard, what's wrong with the Democrats and what they're doing wrong?

Can you say what's wrong with the Republicans and what they're doing wrong?

Yeah.

Well, well, first I'll say what's right with the Democrats, maybe.

And why I think the Democrats are in position to do well this cycle.

I think it is on the backs of people like Amy Acton, who are not rushing to defend the excesses of progressive fever.

Pitch politics of 2020.

Let's look at two Democratic candidates who have attracted a lot of media attention this cycle Graham Plattner in Maine and James Talarico in Texas.

There are a lot of clips of James Talarico saying things in 2020 and 2021 like, God is non-binary.

There are six.

Science tells us that there are six biological sexes.

Southern border should have a big welcome mat right out in front of it if you want to win in Texas.

Those are maybe not the best slogans to be championing statewide, but James Talarico, much to his credit, has acknowledged that and said I no longer believe some of those things.

I am not someone who believes that children should be able to, you know, undergo surgical medical interventions to change their gender under the age of 18.

He's also noted that the oil and gas industry produces a lot of jobs and a lot of prosperity for the state of Texas.

I think that is indicative of James Talarico running a very smart campaign, where he is playing to win in a deep red state.

More Democrats, if they're serious about winning in those kinds of political environments.

Should run campaigns like the one James Taylor Rico is running.

On the other hand, you have Graham Plattner, Graham Plattner, as I think closer to the theory of politics that I was describing with respect to this guy, Dan Osborne, who's running in Nebraska.

Granted, part of it is because he's in a blue state, but he happens to be running against a candidate who is sort of notoriously squishy, moderate, and willing to buck her own party.

I would think as a pollster, as a data guy, the most obvious solution is to say I will also run a very moderate campaign, and then voters will have the option between two different moderate picks.

And this is main they'll go with the moderate Democrat.

But that's not the campaign Graham Plattner is running.

He's running a campaign that is basically hard left on every issue except guns, where he seems to have an affinity for AR 15.

Okay, maybe it'll work in Maine, there's a lot of people in Maine who wear those t shirts that say, like, I love my AR 15 and my trans son.

It's got funky politics in the northeast.

And then, as with respect to what the Republicans are doing wrong, don't even get me started.

It's a long list.

I'll keep you here all afternoon.

You know, economic satisfaction numbers have not improved despite the fact that the market is going in the right direction.

There.

This war.

The message has been mixed.

I think it was clearer what we were doing at the outset.

I think there are now new spokesmen.

You know, we're seeing a lot more of the vice president, a lot less of the secretary of state and the secretary of war describing what we're doing now.

That leaves not just independence and Democrats confused about what the goals were here from the get go, but base Republican voters, foreign policy and national security hawks don't understand why we're shifting tack in this way and why the spokesmen have changed.

So all of these things, I think, contribute to why Republicans are doing worse in the polls right now than Democrats.

Take another question.

Okay.

Good afternoon.

First, I'd like to thank the City Club for offering the opportunity to see people from both sides of the aisle.

I know that can be controversial and a little touchy sometimes, so I do appreciate that opportunity.

Secondly, I'd like to say I've been to six protests.

I still not gotten a dime, so I'm waiting for my check.

Okay.

Because I think that I've been to many and people are not paid.

That is maybe some leaders, but that's not the truth.

But my question for you is, in light of the president's falling poll numbers and the failure of some of the candidates again across the board, what do you foresee with the mega wing of the Republican Party?

I believe you said two thirds you thought of Republicans were more of a traditional mode.

From my perspective, it doesn't seem that way.

It seems like those people are being pushed out.

And what do you foresee happening after president is Trump is out of office.

What happens with the Republicans and the part of the party?

Thank you.

Yeah.

It's very hard to define what the MAGA movement is or what the MAGA mandate is.

I tend to typically define it as embracing.

This is going to do terribly in this room.

But.

With respect to policy specifically, not pitch, not tone, not tenor, not coarsening the discourse with respect to policy specifically.

I actually think there's a pretty reasonable argument that Donald Trump has been a moderating force on the GOP with respect to Mitt Romney was going to cut entitlements.

Donald Trump wrote that right off the table.

Mitt Romney's GOP was fervently anti-abortion, 100% pro-life, and 100% anti-gay marriage.

Donald Trump on for all day pride flag at campaign stops while running for president and then wrote all of the language about marriage being an institution between one man and one woman.

Out of the 2024 RNC policy platform.

Okay.

We don't conceive of Donald Trump as a moderate, and I understand why he is not one in temperament.

And there's a lot of other issues.

He's not a moderate.

Yeah, immigration.

But immigration.

He actually moved the GOP in the right word direction, but also in one where many of their voters were at and many Democrats were at two.

You hear Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton talk about immigration in 2008, and I feel like I'm listening to the median Senate Republican.

Having said all of that, I think MAGA is basically.

Do you embrace that hardcore flexibility with respect to policy?

The trust in one leader who is going to change his mind frequently, who is going to be a hawk on Iran at one point, and then who is going to say, we've came and done what we needed to do, and now we're going to be changing our tack and position.

Left leaning people call that a cult around one individual.

Right leaning people call it something different.

But at the end of the day, of course, it's true that the MAGA movement is wrapped up with and defined by where Donald Trump stands on any given day, on any given issue.

So what happens when he leaves the political stage?

A I'm not convinced that once he leaves the white House, he leaves the political stage.

Are you convinced you'll leave the white House?

Yeah, I'm convinced he leaves the white House.

If we if he left the white House in 2020.

Eventually, I think he'll do it in 2028.

You tried to stay.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's true, but.

But he didn't.

He wasn't able to the system held.

And what I will say is that I think it's conceivable that we don't have a 2028 GOP presidential primary that is as rich in these debates about economic policy, about foreign policy, about social and cultural issues as we're all kind of anticipating.

Right.

And it'll be this clear, defining thing of like, what is MAGA?

Is it hawkish?

Is it dovish?

Is it free market oriented.

Is it you know more embracing of government playing a heavier hand in dictating how an economy should operate.

It may very well just be who Donald Trump endorses.

And he could very well say my VP is the guy or my secretary of state is the guy.

And I think things wrap up pretty quickly.

The discussion got a little heated at times, but as always it remained civil.

You can watch the full City Club of Cleveland Forum with Jesse Arm and me at City Hall at Ideas Stream.

Just search City Club and that is it for this week for my colleagues at the state House News Bureau of Ohio Public Media.

Thanks for watching.

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We leave you this week with images from the Juneteenth celebration at the Statehouse on Thursday.

Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from the law offices of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur LLP.

Porter Wright is dedicated to bringing inspired legal outcomes to the Ohio business community.

More at Porter Wright.com.

Porter Wright.

inspired every day.

And from the Ohio education Association, representing 120,000 educators who are united in their mission to create the excellent public schools every child deserves.

More at OHEA.org